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Professor Lawrence "RW" Lessig's "The Withering of the Net"

by: Carl Malamud

Publication date: 2006

Usage: Attribution

Topics: Hack Number 9, net neutrality, Republicans, Internet, Lessig

Language: English

Item Size: 1.3G

On June 16, 2006, Professor Lawrence Lessig gave a talk at the Center for American Progress entitled "The Withering of the Net: How DC Pathologies are Undermining the Growth and Wealth of the Net." This talk was the second in a series of three. The first talk was Professor Yochai Benkler, the third featured Dave Farber and Vint Cerf.

In just under 40 minutes, Lessig delivered a stunning performance, documenting his assertion that the Internet was created by Republicans and discussing the Read Only (RO) and Read Write (RW) Internet(s). In those less than 40 minutes, Lessig hit the mark precisely on 457 slides. In the spirit of the RW Internet, we taped his performance and then mashed that up with his presentation materials.

The transcript for this talk is here. If you would like to try your own remix, there is also a 39 Mbyte tarball with 590 TIFF images from each state transition in the presentation.

The QuickTime file available here is 800x600 H.264 video. At only 236 Mbytes for 39:04 of video, looks great and less filling too!

Credits

Support for this project was provided by the Center for American Progress, ISC, and Stichting NLnet.

Shotlist

<div><table><tr><td align="right" style="vertical-align: top">[00:00:01.26] </td><td align="left">"Fourscore and seven years ago" refers to the Gettysburg Address (<a href="http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/gadd/">Library of Congress</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gettysburg_Address">WikiPedia</a>, <a href="http://norvig.com/Gettysburg/sld001.htm">Powerpoint</a>, <a href="http://www.archive.org/details/nor_long_remember">Re-enactment</a>).</td></tr><tr><td><hr size="1" /></td><td></td></tr><tr><td align="right" style="vertical-align: top">[00:00:31.03] </td><td align="left"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nineteen_Eighty-Four">Nineteen Eighty-Four</a>.</td></tr><tr><td style="padding-top: 0; padding-bottom: 0; "><hr size="1" /></td><td></td></tr><tr><td align="right" style="vertical-align: top">[00:00:39.19] </td><td align="left"><a href="http://www.mccullagh.org/declan/">Declan McCullagh</a>.</td></tr><tr><td><hr size="1" /></td><td></td></tr><tr><td align="right" style="vertical-align: top">[00:00:41.19] </td><td align="left">Declan McCullagh, <a href="http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,18390,00.html">No Credit Where It's Due</a>, Wired News, March 11, 1999. See also <a href="http://www.snopes.com/quotes/internet.asp">Snopes</a>.</td></tr><tr><td><hr size="1" /></td><td></td></tr><tr><td align="right" style="vertical-align: top">[00:01:15.12] </td><td align="left">This <a href="http://www.cheswick.com/ches/map/index.html">visualization of the Internet</a> was created by Hal Burch and Bill Cheswick at Bell Labs in 1998.</td></tr><tr><td><hr size="1" /></td><td></td></tr><tr><td align="right" style="vertical-align: top">[00:01:35.20] </td><td align="left">AT&T can be seen through <a href="http://www.corp.att.com/history/">many</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AT&T">perspectives</a>. See also Hell's Bells: A Radio History of the Telephone on <a href="http://town.hall.org/radio/HellsBells/">Internet Talk Radio</a> and don't forget to stop by <a href="http://www.archive.org/details/Century21964">the Bell Pavilion</a>.</td></tr><tr><td><hr size="1" /></td><td></td></tr><tr><td align="right" style="vertical-align: top">[00:02:18.09] </td><td align="left">The case was Hush-A-Phone Corporation and Harry C. Tuttle (that's Tuttle, not <a href="http://www.fwfr.com/display.asp?ID=741">Buttle</a>) v. United States of America and Federal Communications Commission, Respondents, and American Telephone and Telegraph Company et. al., Intervenors, United States Court of Appeals District of Columbia Circuit, 99 U.S. App. D.C. 190, November 8, 1956. The DC Court of Appeals does not maintain a full online archive, but here is Karl Auerbach's <a href="http://www.cavebear.com/ialc/hush-a-phone.htm">cache.</a></td></tr><tr><td><hr size="1" /></td><td></td></tr><tr><td align="right" style="vertical-align: top">[00:02:51.25] </td><td align="left">Ibiblio's <a href="http://www.ibiblio.org/pioneers/baran.html">biography</a> of Baran. His 1964 memoranda are <a href="http://www.rand.org/about/history/baran.list.html">online still at RAND.</a></td></tr><tr><td><hr size="1" /></td><td></td></tr><tr><td align="right" style="vertical-align: top">[00:03:49.01] </td><td align="left">Bill Baxter is <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Baxter_(law_professor)"> William Francis Baxter</a>.</td></tr><tr><td><hr size="1" /></td><td></td></tr><tr><td align="right" style="vertical-align: top">[00:04:05.28] </td><td align="left">The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_System_divestiture">Bell System Divestiture</a> became effective January 1, 1984.</td></tr><tr><td><hr size="1" /></td><td></td></tr><tr><td align="right" style="vertical-align: top">[00:04:20.17] </td><td align="left">Porticus.org maintains several documents in their <a href="http://www.porticus.org/bell/att_divestiture.html">Bell System Memorial</a> including the "Plan of Reorganization."</td></tr><tr><td><hr size="1" /></td><td></td></tr><tr><td align="right" style="vertical-align: top">[00:04:47.29] </td><td align="left">The FCC's <a href="http://www.uiowa.edu/~cyberlaw/FCCOps/1968/13F2-420.html">1968 Carterfone Decision.</a></td></tr><tr><td><hr size="1" /></td><td></td></tr><tr><td align="right" style="vertical-align: top">[00:06:32.18] </td><td align="left">Isenberg wrote <a href="http://isen.com/stupid.html">"Rise of the Stupid Network"</a> while at AT&T, which, in an unintended act of irony, asked David to remove the paper from his web site.</td></tr><tr><td><hr size="1" /></td><td></td></tr><tr><td align="right" style="vertical-align: top">[00:06:35.28] </td><td align="left">Saltzer, Reed, and Clark, <a href="http://citeseer.ist.psu.edu/saltzer84endtoend.html">End-To-End Arguments in System Design</a>, ACM Transactions on Computer Systems, 1984.</td></tr><tr><td><hr size="1" /></td><td></td></tr><tr><td align="right" style="vertical-align: top">[00:06:50.06] </td><td align="left">More on spectrum use can be found in Benkler's <a href="http://www.benkler.org/">Wealth of Networks</a>.</td></tr><tr><td><hr size="1" /></td><td></td></tr><tr><td align="right" style="vertical-align: top">[00:07:07.22] </td><td align="left">The United States Frequency Allocation Chart is <a href="http://www.ntia.doc.gov/osmhome/allochrt.html">available from the NTIA</a>.</td></tr><tr><td><hr size="1" /></td><td></td></tr><tr><td align="right" style="vertical-align: top">[00:07:17.26] </td><td align="left">The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microwave_oven">Microwave Oven</a>.</td></tr><tr><td><hr size="1" /></td><td></td></tr><tr><td align="right" style="vertical-align: top">[00:07:44.04] </td><td align="left"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spread_spectrum">Spread Spectrum Communications.</a></td></tr><tr><td><hr size="1" /></td><td></td></tr><tr><td align="right" style="vertical-align: top">[00:08:01.14] </td><td align="left">Wi-Fi is a registered trademark of <a href="http://wi-fi.org/">the Alliance</a>.</td></tr><tr><td><hr size="1" /></td><td></td></tr><tr><td align="right" style="vertical-align: top">[00:09:00.07] </td><td align="left"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Paul_Stevens">Justice Stevens</a> was appointed to the Supreme Court in December 19, 1975.</td></tr><tr><td><hr size="1" /></td><td></td></tr><tr><td align="right" style="vertical-align: top">[00:09:14.28] </td><td align="left">The Betamax has a special hall in <a href="http://www.totalrewind.org/">Total Rewind</a>, the VCR museum.</td></tr><tr><td><hr size="1" /></td><td></td></tr><tr><td align="right" style="vertical-align: top">[00:09:32.12] </td><td align="left">EFF maintains maintains an extensive archive about <a href="http://www.eff.org/legal/cases/betamax/">Sony Corp. of America v. Universal City Studios</a>, 464 U.S. 417 (1984).</td></tr><tr><td><hr size="1" /></td><td></td></tr><tr><td align="right" style="vertical-align: top">[00:18:52.04] </td><td align="left"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anime_music_video">Anime Music Video</a>.</td></tr><tr><td><hr size="1" /></td><td></td></tr><tr><td align="right" style="vertical-align: top">[00:19:21.06] </td><td align="left">The video <a href="http://www.manylemons.co.uk/Thisu_Kissu.shtml">Thisu Kissu</a> was made by Many Lemons Productions in March, 2004.</td></tr><tr><td><hr size="1" /></td><td></td></tr><tr><td align="right" style="vertical-align: top">[00:19:53.06] </td><td align="left"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0neAHeBc_Zc">Muppet Hunter D</a> was produced by Ryan Graff and Jennifer Roseman and is a takeoff on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vampire_Hunter_D">Vampire Hunter D</a> (and, of course, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muppets">the Muppets</a>).</td></tr><tr><td><hr size="1" /></td><td></td></tr><tr><td align="right" style="vertical-align: top">[00:21:08.05] </td><td align="left">Jay-Z, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Black_Album_(Jay-Z_album)">The Black Album</a>, 2003.</td></tr><tr><td><hr size="1" /></td><td></td></tr><tr><td align="right" style="vertical-align: top">[00:21:11.07] </td><td align="left">Danger Mouse, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Grey_Album">The Grey Album</a>, 2004.</td></tr><tr><td><hr size="1" /></td><td></td></tr><tr><td align="right" style="vertical-align: top">[00:21:29.10] </td><td align="left">Ian Youngs, <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3720455.stm">Micro- budget film wows Cannes</a>, BBC News, May 18, 2004. (<a href="http://jonathancaouette.blogspot.com/">The Tarnation Blog</a>)</td></tr><tr><td><hr size="1" /></td><td></td></tr><tr><td align="right" style="vertical-align: top">[00:21:50.08] </td><td align="left">The FOX News Remix <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUmqbiPazRU">Living in a Dreamworld</a> was created by Jonathan McIntosh, who operates at <a href="http://capedmaskedandarmed.com/video/">CapedMaskedAndArmed.Com</a>.</td></tr><tr><td><hr size="1" /></td><td></td></tr><tr><td align="right" style="vertical-align: top">[00:22:41.10] </td><td align="left"><a href="http://www.simsadler.net/HWG2.html">Hard Working George</a> was created by <a href="http://www.simsadler.net/">Sim Sadler</a>.</td></tr><tr><td><hr size="1" /></td><td></td></tr><tr><td align="right" style="vertical-align: top">[00:23:27.06] </td><td align="left"><a href="http://www.atmo.se/">Atmo.Se</a>, a network of friends, created the series <a href="http://www.atmo.se/zino.aspx?articleID=399">Read My Lips.</a></td></tr><tr><td><hr size="1" /></td><td></td></tr><tr><td align="right" style="vertical-align: top">[00:26:18.10] </td><td align="left">The Sousa "When I Was a Boy" meme can be found in <a href="http://www.boingboing.net/2004/05/15/read_this_and_unders.html"> BoingBoing</a> and Timothy Wu's 2004 paper (hear <a href="http://www.archive.org/details/SousasBand">Sousa's band</a>).</td></tr><tr><td><hr size="1" /></td><td></td></tr><tr><td align="right" style="vertical-align: top">[00:31:29.01] </td><td align="left">Senator Hatch is also a <a href="http://www.hatchmusic.com/">singer/songwriter</a>.</td></tr><tr><td><hr size="1" /></td><td></td></tr><tr><td align="right" style="vertical-align: top">[00:33:44.25] </td><td align="left">EFF maintains an extensive collection of materials on <a href="http://www.eff.org/IP/P2P/MGM_v_Grokster/">MGM v. Grokster</a>.</td></tr><tr><td><hr size="1" /></td><td></td></tr><tr><td align="right" style="vertical-align: top">[00:36:55.03] </td><td align="left">Roberta Combs (Christian Coalition) and Joan Blades (MoveOn.org), <a href="http://www.washtimes.com/commentary/20060615-084013-7007r.htm"> Joined at the Internet blip</a>, Washington Times, June 16, 2006. (<a href="http://cdn.moveon.org/content/pdfs/MoveOnChristianCoalition.pdf">Press Release - PDF</a>).</td></tr></table></div>